is a

mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japan ...

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

that aired from 1981 to 1982 in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The show was also popular in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and was aired there around the same time. There are 52 episodes that were aired at 30 minutes each.

Original story

The story is about a young boy named Hiro Taikai who finds a gold

lighter A lighter is a portable device which uses mechanical or electrical means to create a controlled flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of flammable items, such as cigarettes, butane gas, fireworks, candles, or campfires. A lighter typic ...

which turns out to be the giant Golden Warrior Gold Lightan, who has the mission to save the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

from an invasion by King Ibalda. Gold Lightan joined forces with his robot teammates to ruin the plots of King Ibalda and destroy invading alien robots by using his surpassing hand and leg strikes. Hiro also founded a group called the "Bratty Rangers" with his friends.

Concept

The robot is usually disguised as a tiny gold

Zippo A Zippo lighter is a reusable metal lighter produced by Zippo Manufacturing Company of Bradford, Pennsylvania, Bradford, Pennsylvania, United States. Thousands of different styles and designs have been made since their introduction in 1933, incl ...

-style lighter in Hiro's pocket. When called upon, Gold Lightan transforms into a

giant robot In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japanese is more inclusive ...

towering at and weighing 200 tons. All robots in the show are

sentient Sentience is the ability to experience feelings and sensations. It may not necessarily imply higher cognitive functions such as awareness, reasoning, or complex thought processes. Some writers define sentience exclusively as the capacity for ''v ...

and do not require pilots. Usually the robot ends a battle with a trademark golden hand stab move which drives a hand strike cutting the enemy robots body, pulling out and smashing the heartbox energy device.

Staff

* Presenter:

Kenji Yoshida is a Japanese anime producer, manga artist and illustrator best known as the co-founder of Tatsunoko Production and often shortened to , is a Japanese animation company. The studio's name has a double meaning in Japanese: "Tatsu's child" (T ...

* Planners:

Ippei Kuri , better known as , was a Japanese manga artist and the third president of animation production company Tatsunoko Production. History Ippei Kuri was born Toyoharu Yoshida on January 1, 1940, in Kyoto. As a child, he read comics such as ''Superm ...

, Shigeru Yanagawa * Producer: Tomoyuki Miyata * Series composition: Akiyoshi Sakai * Chief director: Koichi Mashimo * Character design: Ippei Kuri * Mecha design:

Shoji Kawamori A is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of translucent (or transparent) sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaque '' fusuma'' is used (/close ...

* Music: Masayuki Jinbo, Masayuki Yamamoto * Animation director:

Takashi Nakamura is a Japanese animator and anime director. He is also a founding member of the Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA) Trade union, labor group. Nakamura's 2002 film ''A Tree of Palme'' was an official selection of the Berlin Film Festiva ...

(Episode 6, 22, 30, 41, 48) * Key animation:

(Episode 41)

Characters

Lightan robots

Media

Anime

Episodes

This is a list of episodes from the

television show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

''Golden Warrior Gold Lightan'' in order by production number.

Manga

A spin-off manga written by Ruma Onbutsu and illustrated by Lotus and Rena Mikami began serialization on the ''Comic Polca'' website in December 2022.

Merchandise

In 2005,

Bandai reissued the semi-original robots as part of the

Soul of Chogokin is a popular line of adult collector's toys produced by the Japanese company Bandai Spirits. The line, which began in 1997, focuses almost exclusively on mecha (robots) taken from various 1970s and 1980s anime series, although the line has di ...

label. The individual robots were released with a hard plastic display case, robot footstand, red carpet storage box, interchangeable gold hands pieces, and an enemy's heartbox energy device. This version also feature the robots with high quality 18K gold plating. The toys can be purchased individually or as a set. There are 2 known sets in the reissues. One is the first generation grey box, available in Hong Kong and Japan, featuring 6 of the robots, while the other is an exclusive redcarpet wooden box set, known to be available only in Japan, featuring all 11 robots. Later, in 2005, replicas were re-released by Hung Hing toys in

and

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

featuring the robots built in cheaper die-cast metals. The texture and few minor details were inconsistent between the products. Multiple variations of the toys were sold as well. One such version is the large toy Gold Lightan measuring at 11.5 inches in height when standing in robot form, although only 2,000 were manufactured. Additionally, at the base of the foot, of the toy, is a label counting the manufactured number out of 2,000. Other variations include team robots in different colors or grey low weight plastic/silver exclusive to Hong Kong and Macau. There are more variations and replicas of Gold Lightan than any others because it is the lead robot in the series. There are other design variations. For example, older models of I.C. Lightan uses

AA batteries The AA battery (or double-A battery) is a standard size single cell cylindrical dry battery. ANSI and IEC battery nomenclature gives several designations for cells in this size, depending on cell features and chemistry. The IEC 60086 system c ...

to light up its

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

eye, while newer reissues of the toy uses flat button or coin batteries. None of these re-releases are completely identical to the original 1980s GB series Chogokin toy launch from 1979 to 1983, by Popy Pleasure. The originals are valued at a higher price, as they were constructed with different grades of diecast metals as well as high quality

acrylonitrile butadiene styrene Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) (chemical formula (C8H8)''x''·(C4H6)''y''·(C3H3N)''z'' ) is a common thermoplastic polymer. Its glass transition temperature is approximately . ABS is amorphous and therefore has no true melting point. A ...

. In 2006, Bandai released a new version of the Gold Lightan in their Soul of Chogokin line-up - GX 32 The Gold Lightan. Not only were they considered to be one of the most detailed and sophisticated Gold Lightan toys yet, they were plated with 18K gold, as their predecessors were. Aside from being able to transform into a lighter, just like the original toys, its joints were well structured. The package comes with a stand, interchangeable hands, and a heartbox energy device. The toy was a success and was well received by fans in Japan and Hong Kong. This caused Bandai Hong Kong to make a singular stand showcase just for the Gold Lightan, itself. The titular robot is a playable character in the fighting game '' Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars''. When he fights, he can only be single as opposed to character doubles, since he is so big and powerful.

References

External links

*
''Soul of Chogokin'' Gold Lightan at CollectionDX
* {{Tatsunoko Production 1981 anime television series debuts Super robot anime and manga Tatsunoko Production TV Tokyo original programming Television about alien invasions Transforming mecha